My personal Berlinale Ranking - 2012
A ranking from films I saw at the Berlinale 2012.
Average Vote for the Festival: 6,50
Average Vote for the Festival: 6,50
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30 titles
- DirectorKim NguyenStarsRachel MwanzaAlain Lino Mic Eli BastienSerge KanyindaSomewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona, a 14-year-old girl, tells her unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12.Competition - 10/10
- DirectorQuan'an WangStarsFengyi ZhangYuqi ZhangGang WuIn the White Deer Village in Shaanxi Province the two most important families - Bai and Lu - and their sons have always lived together in peace. But the turmoil leads to a fierce struggle for land ownership.Competition - 9/10
- DirectorMani HaghighiStarsTaraneh AlidoostiMani HaghighiSaeed ChangizianAn Iranian couple from the city drive around a remote mountainous region. They hand out bags of money to poor villagers in return for them carrying out unusual requests the couple make of them.Forum - 8/10
- DirectorRadu JudeStarsSerban PavluSofia NicolaescuGabriel SpahiuMarius is a divorced man in his late thirties. His five year-old daughter Sofia lives with her mother, which causes Marius a deep frustration. On the day Marius arrives to take his daughter on their annual holiday, he is told that she is ill but he doesn't believe it and insists to take her with him. The situation soon gets out of control with all the family taking part in a web of humor, violence, childish songs, police interventions and love statements.Forum - 8/10
- DirectorMalgorzata SzumowskaStarsJuliette BinocheAnaïs DemoustierJoanna KuligOn her latest assignment, a journalist for Elle immerses herself in a prostitution ring run by university students.Section Panorama - 8/10
- DirectorMatthias GlasnerStarsBirgit MinichmayrJürgen VogelHenry StangeA struggling German couple starts finding each other again after keeping as a secret about being responsible for a horrific accident.Competition - 8/10
- DirectorBilly Bob ThorntonStarsTippi HedrenKevin BaconRay StevensonAlabama; 1969: The death of a clan's estranged wife and mother brings together two very different families. Do the scars of the past hide differences that will tear them apart, or expose truths that could lead to unexpected collisions?Competition - 8/10
- DirectorJoong-Hyun KimStarsYoon Chae-youngKil Hae-yeonLim Hak-soonA local salary-man struggles to start a better life when a missing person shows up demanding an old dept be paid.Forum - 8/10
- DirectorBenedek FliegaufStarsKatalin ToldiGyöngyi LendvaiLajos SárkányUnknown racist murderers have already attacked four families. Some of them died. Who will be the next on this ordinary day? Inspired by a true story.Competition - 8/10
- DirectorBrillante MendozaStarsIsabelle HuppertKatherine MulvilleMarc ZanettaFollows the hostage crisis of the Dos Palmas kidnappings in the southern Philippines, the life of the hostages whose survivors were freed after an awful year in captivity.Competition - 8/10
- DirectorAngelina JolieStarsZana MarjanovicGoran KosticRade SerbedzijaDuring the Bosnian War, Danijel, a soldier fighting for the Serbs, re-encounters Ajla, a Bosnian who's now a captive in his camp he oversees. Their once promising connection has become ambiguous as their motives have changed.Berlinale Special - 7/10
- DirectorJames MarshStarsClive OwenAndrea RiseboroughGillian AndersonSet in 1990s Belfast, an active member of the IRA becomes an informant for MI5 in order to protect her son's welfare.Competition (Out of Competition) - 7/10
- DirectorNikolaj ArcelStarsAlicia VikanderMads MikkelsenMikkel Boe FølsgaardA young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.Competition - 7/10
- DirectorAntonio ChavarríasStarsJuan Diego BottoBárbara LennieMágica PérezJulia becomes an orphan and is taken in by Laura and Daniel, one of her father's childhood friends. The child makes Daniel remember the horrifying past he had chosen to bury.Competition - 7/10
- DirectorYong-hi YangStarsSakura AndôArata IuraYang Ik-joonBased on the director's own experience, Our Homeland follows a Korean family living in Japan, of which the father (Masane Tsukayama) decided to take North Korean nationality because of his strong belief decades ago. In 1997, Sonho (Arata Iura), the son of the family who was sent to North Korea under a "repatriation program" with the promise of a "paradise" free of discrimination, returns to Japan for the first time in 25 years to seek treatment for his brain tumor due to the difference in medical technology between the two countries. Allowed to stay for only three months and closely monitored by a North Korean officer (Yang Ik-Joon), Sonho is welcomed and embraced by his family and old friends but his father, who is still sticking to the belief but also feeling guilty about sending his son to North Korea at the same time, while Sonho's younger sister Rie (Sakura Andô) develops the aversion to North Korea and its political ideas.Forum - 7/10
- DirectorJulian PölslerStarsMartina GedeckLuchs von KyffhäuserbachKarlheinz HacklA woman finds herself inexplicably cut off from all human contact when an invisible, unyielding wall suddenly surrounds the landscape.Section Panorama - 7/10
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsChristian BaleNi NiXinyi ZhangAn American finds refuge during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking in a church with a group of women. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.Competition (Out of Competition) - 7/10
- DirectorSrdjan DragojevicStarsNikola KojoMilos SamolovHristina PopovicA homophobic Serbian gangster is forced to make a deal with wedding planner gay activist, to assemble a team which will protect the upcoming Pride Parade in Belgrade, and in exchange his fiancée can get her dream wedding.Section Panorama - 6/10
- DirectorLucy MulloyStarsDariel ArrechagaAnailín de la Rúa de la TorreJavier Núñez FloriánIn Havana, Raul dreams of escaping to Miami. Accused of assault, he appeals to Elio to help him reach the forbidden world 90 miles across the ocean. One night, full of hope, they face the biggest challenge of their lives.14plus - 6/10
- DirectorCao HamburgerStarsJoão MiguelFelipe CamargoCaio BlatThree brothers embark on a journey that begins with a kinship with Brazil's indigenous tribes, to their creation of South America's largest national park.Section Panorama - 6/10
- DirectorFaouzi BensaïdiStarsFehd BenchemsiFouad LabiedMouhcine MalziIn Tetouan, at the northern edge of Morocco, three young men decide to rob a jewelry store. The heist goes awry, and their destinies part drastically.Section Panorama - 6/10
- DirectorMarialy RivasStarsAlicia RodríguezAline KüppenheimMaría Gracia OmegnaDaniela, raised in the bosom of a strict Evangelical family and recently unmasked as a fornicator by her shocked parents, struggles to find her own path to spiritual harmony.14plus - 5/10
- DirectorSpiros StathoulopoulosStarsTheo AlexanderTamilla KoulievaGiorgos KarakantasIn the plains of central Greece, Byzantine monasteries are perched atop sandstone pillars, suspended between heaven and earth. A young Greek monk and a Russian nun have devoted their lives to the strict rituals and practices of their community, but a growing affection for one another puts their monastic life under question. Torn between spiritual devotion and their human desire, they must decide which path to follow.Competition - 5/10
- DirectorBrian M. CassidyMelanie ShatzkyStarsMelissa LeoVictoria CharkutDave ClarkEx-con Francine has difficulty adjusting to life in a small lakeside town until she begins working with animals, though she finds herself growing increasingly isolated from the community and embracing forms of anti-social behavior.Forum - 5/10
- DirectorÁlex de la IglesiaStarsJosé MotaSalma HayekBlanca PortilloAn out-of-work publicist who suffers an accident looks to sell the exclusive interview rights to the highest bidder in an attempt to provide for his family.Berlinale Special - 5/10
- DirectorOlmo OmerzuStarsNatálie RehorováMartin PechlátJirí CernýOn New Years Day, two innocent 12-year-old boys in a small town buys vodka for a young female teacher, Katerina's (Natálie Rehorová) and two other men (David (Martin Pechlát), her boyfriend, and his friend Stepanand (Jirí Cerný). They are invited to the house. Here they experience their first encounter with sexuality. The children lose track of time. They were expected home long ago. They drink, throw up and are intoxicated by love and "the shameless, unbridled and licentious" world in which David, Katerina and Stepán live.Forum - 5/10
- DirectorTony GatlifStarsMamebetty Honoré DialloSection Panorama - 5/10
- DirectorMiguel GomesStarsTelmo ChurroMiguel GomesHortêncílio AquinaA restless retired woman teams up with her deceased neighbor's maid to seek out a man who has a secret connection to her past life as a farm owner at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa.Competition - 4/10
- DirectorSimon StahoStarsEmma Sehested HøegGustav HintzeVic Carmen SonneAnything can happen and will happen in this romantic musical where four teenagers risk their feelings and dreams in the space of a single, extraordinary night. Daniel, Lina, Stefan and Therese are sixteen years old. They are the best of friends and are on their way out for the night. It is a night like any other and yet a night like no other before. When the sun rises, their lives will be forever changed. Daniel is in love with Lina, but Lina is hopelessly in love with herself and rock star Niklas Ravn. Therese is willing to offer Stefan her virginity, but Stefan would rather come out of the closet - to get closer to Daniel. But Daniel is much more interested in Therese.14plus - 3/10
- DirectorPrzemyslaw WojcieszekStarsTomasz TyndykAgnieszka PodsiadlikMarek KepinskiKsawery is a young gay man who performs as drag queen in a Warsaw nightclub. Karolina is Jewish and seems to be his agent. Jan is Ksawery's lonely grandfather, who's been hiding a dark secret which the couple wants to reveal.Forum - 2/10